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Published: November 10th 2004
Everest at sunrise
This is from a small mountain, Kala Patthar (5550m) facing Everest and Lhotse. Everest is the black peak between the really tall snowy one and the shorter peak. Lhotse is closer to where I am standing, and looks taller and bigger. Ha ha! Just kidding. Although it did feel as though I was at some sort of fat camp for 3 weeks 😊 Most people I talked to felt the same way because of all the trekking and the lack of weight-gaining food available.
Yay! I just got back (safely thankfully!) from Everest Base Camp and two small mountains (hills really in this area) called Kala Patthar (18,200ft) and Gokyo Ri(17,585ft). It was stunning, absolutely amazing to be surrounded by the world's tallest mountains! There are no words to describe what it was like to be sitting across from Lhotse and Everest, exciting, humbling, a little oxygen deprived.... It is definitely a most wonderful experience to have walked up Kala Patthar and to Base Camp. Gokyo was also just as incredible, may be even more so. One can see all the really huge peaks of the Himalayas that border between Tibet and Nepal (Lhotse, Everest, Cho Oyu) plus the turquoise glacier lakes that surround Gokyo Ri along the Ngozumpa Glacier.
Now that I'm back in Kathmandu after having taken a long, hot shower, I can say that trekking for nearly 3 weeks was really just spectacular and breathtaking. If someone had asked
Gokyo Ri
This is me and Everest at Gokyo, where there are these amazing turquoise glacier lakes. me about it during the trek, I would have replied, I smell, I've been wearing the same ugly brown pants for days, I'm sore, I'm hungry, and I'm cold. Oh the woes of trekking!
Haha, I just wasn't really physically prepared to walk 4-8 hours a day with a 30lb pack on my back up hills, down hills, up hills, down hills, up hills around corners and more corners day after day. The Nepali highway (the trekking routes) is really just amazing! Their idea of flat is about 30 hills between one village and the next. OK, may be 30 is an exaggeration, but there really were many many hills and the words that came out of my mouth to describe them were not so pretty and didn't really do them justice in terms of their actual beauty. My poor trekking partners had to hear multiple multiple times, "I HATE HILLS!" Hee hee...enough of those bloody @#$* hills.\
The people that I met along the way were just as amazing, well most of them. Some of them I don't think were really getting enough O2 to their brains. Most of the other trekkers really were so much fun to talk
Air strip in Lukla
There was much hype about the airport in Lukla (where one can start trekking towards Everest) because it is at an angle ending at the base of the mountain and very short. Fortunately, the pilots are very skilled and the planes very small (18 passengers only). So the landing and take-off from here was not a problem at all! with during and after the walk to the next destination. It was great because I ran into the same groups of trekkers at different points along the way and we got to share food and experiences, talk and laugh and relax after a long day of walking.
The most awful subject that came up after the 2nd of course was the election results. I'm so disappointed in the Americans. How could Bush be re-elected so easily??????? I think I may never go back because of it. I just can't, to this moment, think of any reason why people would vote for that blundering disgrace of an American.
Other than the elections, I talked with people about their other treks they've done and the peaks they've climbed. Really, there are some awesome people who climbed several peaks (as high as 6100m or about 20,000ft), trekked from Jiri (famed b/c of its beauty, but also its many many hills - going up 600-1300 meters and coming back down and doing it all over again....), and have done other treks, such as the Annapurna or Langtang, etc.... I can't believe how much energy these people have!
I definitely want to go back to
Suspension bridge and yaks
This is me on one of those really really long suspension bridges being chased back to the other side by yaks with very very large horns. It was scary because the boards were popping up in front of me when they got closer! I thought I was going to get tossed right off the bridge. Not having much luck with the animals here....ha ha! that area and also climb more peaks and visit some other areas I was unable to drag myself and my pack to. I think that a porter and guide will most certainly accompany me the next time! May be the next entry will include sherpa stories and more things about the actual trek other than those hills....
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anonymous
non-member comment
Hee hee hee!!!
I really missed hearing from you these past few weeks!!! Look at all that has happened since your last entry...you made me laugh with your remarks about the re-election of Bush. Keep having a blast and sending your wonderful commentary and pics.